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Alex Coke Interview

This interview was conducted by Carl Smith via email February 2003.

In what ways do you find meaning and fulfilment in creative music?
Music is a force that has taken me all over the world and put me in contact with many friends and incredible people. The unknown can be a very beautiful and inspiring factor. To get up and practice in the morning is like going out on an adventure. Playing music with people has led me to many surprising and wonderful situations.

What attitudes or values do you view as most important in creative music-making?
To me, the most important thing in any music is LISTENING. Listening is one of the hardest things for students to learn how to do. It's a paradox. How can you listen and play at the same time? Don't be afraid of the unknown. Music is like life, it's not always exactly the way you may have planned it.

What is your musical training and background?
I started private lessons on flute with Mario Foster in Dallas in 1964. I rented a student model alto saxophone in 1969. I played along with the radio, records and friends that had blues bands or folk groups. I studied flute and received a B.A. in music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. I played tenor in the jazz band and basketball band. I played 3 nights a week accompanying modern/jazz dance classes. Two of the those nights with Andy Weyl, a pianist with whom I am still in contact. I studied Chinese music and philosophy. I took as many "ethnic" music classes as I could. I studied bamboo flute with G.S. Sachdev at Naropa Institute one summer and audited the Woodstock Creative Music Studio with Karl Berger, Eddie Blackwell, Don Cherry and Dave Holland. When I visited my parents in Dallas I always made an effort to go hear James Clay, Red Garland and Marshel Ivery at the Recovery Room. I moved back to Austin in 1977 and played with various bands, many of which included my long time worthy constituent Rich Harney. Rich and I played constantly and he's been a major influence on my harmonic thinking and development as a professional musician. In the 80s I played in as many groups as I could, including the A.C.C. Big Band and U.T. Jazz Ensemble to make a real effort to improve my reading. I met Tina Marsh at a jam session and we've been playing together ever since.

Knowing what you know now, how would you have approached your career differently?
Hindsight and foresight are the subjects of many novels. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't know then what I know now.

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